Mayor, officials at odds; dept. head resigns

Anderson County’s mayor and most of the County Commission appear to be at odds over who has authority — including the right to hire and fire — several department heads, including the Alternatives to Incarceration program director.

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By Donna Smith/Staff

Oakridger - Oak Ridge, TN

By Donna Smith/Staff

Posted Mar. 24, 2013 at 8:55 PM

By Donna Smith/Staff

Posted Mar. 24, 2013 at 8:55 PM

Anderson County’s mayor and most of the County Commission appear to be at odds over who has authority — including the right to hire and fire — several department heads, including the Alternatives to Incarceration program director.

The opposition over who has authority was evident at Monday night’s Anderson County Commission meeting as commissioners, Law Director Jay Yeager and County Mayor Terry Frank discussed a proposed private act on the issue. On Thursday, Mike Baker, the Alternatives to Incarceration director, resigned from the year-old program. His resignation came only two days after he talked to the League of Women Voters of Oak Ridge about his job and how he’s been unable to get all the programs needed at the Anderson County jail.

“I’m frustrated, I’m really frustrated,” he said in talking about how he’s trying to get local judges, lawyers and others to buy into the mission of Alternatives to Incarceration — of providing programs to help inmates and keep them from coming back to jail.

Asked if he was planning to quit, Baker said, “It’s crossed my mind.” (Please see his resignation letter in Opinion).

In response to a reporters’ inquiry, the county mayor issued this statement Thursday afternoon to all area media representatives: “There is no doubt that Mr. Baker has a passion for the individual rehabilitation of offenders. But he always failed to understand the legal system itself and the rights of the accused. His efforts to cure people created liabilities when it came to possible incrimination of the accused. Judges, the district attorney general and the public defender have laws they must follow in all cases, and Mr. Baker mistakenly took the requirement to follow those laws as a lack of support, and he took personal offense that he could only work with those who have already been convicted.

“There are no personal issues I have with Mr. Baker. I wish him well in his future endeavors,” Frank stated.

“I was disappointed that Mike Baker decided to resign,” said Commissioner Myron Iwanski of Oak Ridge on Thursday. “Mr. Baker has done a good job getting the Alternatives to Incarceration Program started and has had some important successes. ... It’s unfortunate that Mr. Baker could not get some of the support needed to put some of the key programs in place. Without this support and the ability to work together we will continue to miss opportunities for grants that help pay for these programs and we will be forced to spend more and more to build and operate jails.”

Private act

Anderson County Commission by a 14-2 vote Monday voted in favor of a private act that would prevent department heads from being removed or fired without the prior recommendation of established oversight committees, supervisors and a subsequent majority vote of Commission. Voting against the action — which would have to be submitted to the state legislature for approval and then returned for another vote by Commission — were Commissioners Steve Mead of Oak Ridge and Zach Bates of Lake City.

Page 2 of 2 - Frank told commissioners she has asked the state attorney general for an opinion on the proposed private act. “It’s my belief that this is generally outside the law,” she said.

Commissioners who spoke in favor of the private act and Yeager contend the private act is “solidifying past practices” in county government and enables them to get and keep qualified people for these positions, who might shy away from the positions if they thought the jobs would be re-filled every time a change in the county’s administration takes place with every election.

“Under three previous mayors we didn’t have problems with these positions,” said County Commissioner Myron Iwanski, who served as interim mayor prior to Frank’s election to the position in August 2012.

Frank said Commissioners, in asking for this private act to be approved, are telling the public that “here in Anderson County we’re going to do things differently than in the other 94 (Tennessee) counties.”

Among the department head positions that fall under this private act, according to Yeager, are his position of law director, the Alternatives to Incarceration Department director, the Veterans Services officers; the juvenile probations directior; the E-911 coordinator; the Anderson County Park manager; economic development director; Anderson County television (ACTV) director; and possibly the chief deputy and Emergency Medical Services director.

Allowing the supervisory committees to make the decisions on these positions helps keep the “politics” out and let’s the county have “more professional departments,” said Commissioner Harry “Whitey” Hitchcock.

In a March letter to Richard Burroughs, the mayor’s chief of staff, legal consultants with the County Technical Advisory Service wrote that the mayor has authority over the Alternatives to Incarceration director, unless County Commission takes one of two actions — creating a private act, or amending a resolution pertaining to the program’s advisory committee, which was set up by Commission. The Committee includes the county mayor, the circuit court clerk, the district attorney general, the district public defender, a county commissioner elected to the board by the County Commission, chief jailer, and a community health professional or corrections professional selected by the mayor.

The CTAS opinion came in response to an email from Burroughs about the Alternatives to Incarceration Department.

Yeager said he brought the draft of the private act to the County Commission’s Legislative Committee at the request of Commission Chairman Chuck Fritts of Claxton and the ACTV advisory committee.